Friday, October 16, 2015                                         5:03 PM

The ‘Either-Or’ model is a false rationalization—whenever you hear someone say ‘we have to do this or we have to do that’, you know you’re being manipulated. There are countless ways to go through life; there are innumerable solutions to every problem—and we know this because of the infinite ways in which things can go wrong. If existence were an ‘either-or’ situation, it would be a much simpler place—but I’m sure that is impossible—because I think the complexity is a necessary element of existence.

This complexity is also the reason that we never win the fight against injustice—it finds its way around every rule, regulation, and watch-post. The only thing that stops injustice is self-determination. The only time you see people being just is when there’s a disaster—as soon as things calm down, they take a breath, and go right back to self-interest—self-determination’s idiot sibling—its non-nutritional replacement.

Self-interest is the easy, no-planning-required substitute for a considered life of self-determination. It’s oh so comfortable and commitment is optional—who wouldn’t be tempted? If only it weren’t for those silly games we all have to play to convince others that we actually care—if not for that, self-interest would be perfect. Yet without playing the game, you can’t hook the suckers who buy in to the whole self-determination rap. It’s a quandary. How does one climb over all those bodies while smiling at them and saying “How are you?”